Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Governor Tarek Amer said the bank’s 100 billion pounds initiative encourages banks to lend the private sector to support the country’s industrial, agricultural and contracting fields by providing subsidized loans at a reduced interest rate of 8 percent.

In statements to MENA Tuesday May 19,2020, Amer said this package comes to support the national economy, protect the gains of economic reform and help the private sector and companies to confront the repercussions of the coronavirus.

The package is also to pump loans to help companies protect their entities, financial standing and employees, he said.

These credit guarantees will be done through the credit guarantee company which is chaired by the bank, he added.

In December, the CBE launched a 100-billion-pound initiative to support local industry to boost private sector growth in the next phase.

Under the plan, factories with sales of under 1 billion pounds would be able to secure loans at a reduced interest rate of 10%.

Three months later, the CBE cut down the interest rate to eight percent after expanding the initiative to the agricultural and production firms.